


Lone Owl

by Gothic_Bubbles



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Curses, Fluff, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, No Beta, Other, no beta we die like men, written on my phone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:53:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22642141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothic_Bubbles/pseuds/Gothic_Bubbles
Summary: Eda prefers to take care of her own problems, regardless of whether there is help available or not. She hates to rely on others, but some would much rather she rely on them than hurt herself.Now edited to be more in line with the cannon after the release of episode 6, and to be better in general.
Relationships: Eda & King (The Owl House), Eda & Luz Noceda
Comments: 14
Kudos: 149
Collections: All things Disney





	1. Chapter 1

Eda’s curse works in mysterious ways, especially when she forgets to take her elixir. Sometimes the change is almost instant with no warning signs, others she would start sprouting feathers hours in advance. She’s found that if she runs out before she can get more, it’s best to get somewhere she won’t destroy the house or hurt anyone, until she can get more. Unfortunately she’s been forgetting to restock more and more since Luz came around. She’d had many close calls in the last month, always just barely managing to get to town to buy her elixir before nightfall. Unfortunately, Eda was in for a bad time tonight.

She forgot again, but this time, the market was closed for a holiday. She wouldn’t be able to get more elixir until tomorrow at the earliest. She really needed to start setting alarm spells and keeping a calendar. The last thing she wanted was for this to become a regular thing.

She had finished her last bottle yesterday, but she forgot she wouldn’t be able to get more today. So here she is, sneaking out the door nearly an hour before sunset so she can get to her cave. Luz was getting more demon lessons from King tonight, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get out. She didn’t want to be seen. 

“Eda? Where are you going?” A voice asked from behind her. She nearly jumped out of her skin with fright.

Twirling around, she came face to face with her apprentice. “I have to take care of some-uh-business kid. I probably won’t be back until tomorrow, so don’t wait up, ok?”

“Ok Eda. Be safe.” The human said. 

At this point, Luz had learned not to question it. Usually she regretted asking. Besides, she had lessons with King tonight.

“I’ll try.” Eda said with a smile before ruffling her apprentice’s short hair and walking out the door.

Once on the other side she sighed in relief, that wasn’t too bad, at least she didn’t have to make up an excuse as to exactly what business she was doing. She ran off into the woods towards her little cave. It was secluded and full of small creatures that kept her busy. Even if they never did stay down it was better than being bored and wandering off where she could hurt someone. At this point she was honestly just glad nothing else had tried to take residence in the cave, trying to explain any injuries she might get while “defending her lair,” as King would put it, would be hard.

She arrived just before the sun set, giving her just enough time to slip inside before she changed. Turing into the creature was always one of her least favorite parts, not that she had a favorite part, it was all pretty awful. As her bones began to shift painfully, she could feel her mind starting to blank, her ability to think declining fast, and all sense of reason being replaced with an unbearable urge to hunt, to kill, and to feed.  
—————————————————————————

Hours later she had already killed and devoured several small creatures. She sat down, content for the time being. Hunting was always fun. It wasn’t until she heard something move outside, something large, that she finally got up again. The Owl Lady’s head snapped towards the sound, she was immediately alert and on her feet, ready to fight. Her front bowed down, ready to pounce, her eyes trained in the direction the noise had come from, ears twitching to pick up any sounds.

A growl from in front of her caught her attention. Her large black eyes were able to make out the shape of a large demon approaching. It stepped into the moonlight and she finally saw it in full detail. It was large, with scaly skin and dark eyes, its long tail had spikes running down the back and all over the tip. Long claws on its paws and a long tooth filled mouth at the front said it was clearly predatory.

Eda growled at the creature in return. Now both were growling and sizing each other up. The creature made the first move, charging at Eda with its mouth open. Eda jumped to side and screeched, with one powerful claw, she struck the creature, covering herself in its blood. It recovered fast, turning on its back legs and lashing out with its long claws. Eda was quicker and avoided the attack, only to be hit in the leg with the creature’s spiked tail. Howling in pain she lashed out again, her claws digging into the creature’s back as her teeth sliced through meat and bone, removing the end of its tail. It roared in agony and spun around, sharp claws cutting into Eda’s chest. Eda pushed the creature away and the two circled each other. 

This time Eda made the first move. Running at the beast, her claws dug into its flesh and she rounded the beast, her teeth now digging into its neck, and ripping out its throat. 

The creature died with a pathetic gurgle of blood. Eda laid down, her fight over. As adrenaline left her she became tired and finally fell asleep. The large body of the beast sat in the cave, still warm and bleeding.  
———————————————————————

Eda awoke the next morning in her normal form, covered in blood, and with a sharp pain in her chest and leg. Almost immediately, she felt a tell tale queasiness in her stomach. Lurching forward she coughed up the first pellet. The next came a few minutes later with much more difficulty and heaving. This continued for a few more minutes until all the pellets were out.

THAT was her least favorite part. She probably wouldn’t be able to eat for several hours, at least.

“Ugh, god. What happened?” She said aloud. Her dress was soaked in blood and she was completely exhausted. But the sun was newly risen, which meant she had to try to get home before Luz and King woke up.

Limping back as quick as she could, she cursed her dizziness when she had to lean on a tree every so often so she wouldn’t pass out. Several hours later, the Owl House finally came into view and she smiled to herself. 

Walking to the door she mentally cursed as Hooty took her in. She didn’t want to deal with his shrill voice, not with the headache that had begun creeping in not long after waking up.

“What happened to you?!” He asked shrilly.

“Nothing. Are King and Luz awake?” She said tiredly.

“Yeah, they’re in the kitchen.” he said. Eda gave an internal “fuuuuuck,” She didn’t need this right now.

“Do you want me t-“

He was interrupted by Eda’s reply.

“Don’t tell them I’m here. I have things to do first.” She said.

“Are you su-“

“Yes, Hooty I’m sure! Now let me the fuck in!” She snapped.

“Alright, alright! Jeez, hoot! I was just worried about you! Hoot!” He said.

Eda just glared in response. Hooty rolled his eyes and opened up. ‘She is so not a morning person’ he thought.

Once inside, Eda carefully slipped upstairs without notice. She sighed as she tried to figure out where to start. Cleaning the blood off of herself should probably come first. 

Her mind made up, she disrobed and stepped into the shower. She hissed in pain as the water hit her open wounds making her dizzy. She watched as the blood rinsed off of her body and allowed the water to thoughtless wet her hair before she tried to wash it. Once it was sufficiently wet, she grabbed the shampoo, and scrubbed her thick gray hair. She was surprised when more red washed out of it. She finished bathing and got out. After drying off she set to work cleaning and bandaging her wounds before changing into something more comfortable and heading back out to the market. 

She really didn’t want to do this, not when she dealt so weak. She knew she didn’t have a choice though. Not if she wanted to rest tonight. She was so exhausted she couldn’t even really use her magic. She just wanted to get the whole ordeal over with.  
————————————————————————

Less than an hour later and she was on her way back with her elixir. She just wanted to get something to eat and go to sleep.

She returned home and once again slipped in and managed not to alert her friend and ward to her arrival. Or so she thought

Luz heard the door open and poked her head out just in time to see a bit of Eda’s hair disappear around the landing. She had missed Eda greatly.

Eda, meanwhile, was changing into something comfortable. Her softest pajamas, she knew she really should change her bandages before she went to sleep, but that could wait until after she ate. Her nausea had dissipated completely and she was left starving. She stumbled down to the landing to find Luz staring at her from the bottom of the stairs.

“Eda! Dios mio! Are you alright?” She asked worriedly upon seeing the state her mentor was in.

Eda looked awful. She had bags under her eyes. Her movements were more sluggish and uncoordinated than they usually were, even first thing in the morning. She was also shaking slightly. Most concerning of all, she had a look of poorly masked pain on her face.

“Yeah kid, I’m fine.” She said, sounding even more tired than she looked. 

“How were yo-Agh!” She cut off in the middle of her sentence when she tripped and fell down the stairs. “Ow! Fuck!”

“Eda! Oh my gosh, here let me help you.” Luz said, now much more concerned.

“I can do it myself!” She snapped, causing Luz to back away, hands raised.

Eda tried to get up, but collapsed back to the ground with a groan. 

Luz ran over and helped her up. 

“Thanks kid.” At this point, Eda was too tired to argue against help.

Luz helped her to the couch and sat her down. 

“Do you need anything?” She asked, concerned.

“I-food, please.” Eda replied tiredly. 

She hadn’t eaten dinner. Even if she had though, it wouldn’t have done much for her now anyway. At this point she was seriously doubting her ability to get up and get for herself. She might as well just take this opportunity to not have to do it, the kid was offering after all. She really wanted to lay down right now anyway.

Luz nodded and went into the kitchen to get something for Eda. King, who was sitting at the table looked up, asking what all the commotion was.

“Eda fell Down the stairs. She looks really tired.” Luz replied, getting bread for a sandwich out.

Just then, they heard a loud “THUNK,” Running into the living room, Luz was shocked when she saw Eda in the floor, only half conscious and even paler than usual. Had she been that pale before?

“Eda! What happened?!” Luz asked, concern sky rocketing.

“I fell.” Eda said dryly.

“I-you-Urgh! Just-King! Go get me a piece of bread and some water!” Luz said angrily. She couldn’t believe Eda was acting like this right now. 

King was quick to comply, running back into the kitchen. Luz helped Eda back onto the couch as King returned with the items. Luz thanked him and asked if she and Eda could have some privacy. King looked between then and nodded, heading off to his room.

“Eda, what happened last night?” Luz asked, she needed to approach this delicately.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Eda said with a gentle smile.

”Eda, I’m worried. You just fell down the stairs! You’re not fine. I know something happened last night, but I need you to tell me before I can help you!” Luz said, frustrated at the witch’s disregard for herself.

“Kid I told you, I'm fine. Nothing happened last night, I’m just tired.” 

Eda was growing frustrated too, what right did this kid have to question her like this?! As far as Luz needed to know she had just had a long night and fell down the stairs.

“Fine don’t tell me! But Eda, I thought we’d realized after the incident last month that we really shouldn’t keep secrets or tell lies?” She said, feeling kind of bad for bringing that up, but it was necessary right now.

“Kid, it’s fine. Just let me sleep. We can talk later! Can I please just sleep?” Eda was almost furious. How dare Luz bring that up. They had agreed not to talk about it.

“Fine!” Luz said angrily.

She was pissed that Eda was keeping secrets again, but Eda was stubborn, if she really didn’t want to tell, she wouldn’t. That should be evident by how long she resisted joining a coven, and how long she had avoided telling not just her, but King as well, about her curse.

Eda was frustrated too, not with Luz though. She was angry at herself for being dumb enough to cause this, for being stupid enough to let this happen. The kid shouldn’t have to worry about her like this. Before her thoughts could go much farther, she let out a massive yawn. She really was a sleepy little owl huh?

Settling into the couch with a blanket and pillow Eda drifted off into an exhaustion induced, dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just remember, Luz’s mom is a nurse. I’m also running on the pretense that Luz is occasionally naive and very imaginative, but overall surprisingly mature for her age. Also, in my mind, Luz is smart and her mom was smart enough to give her extensive first aid training. 
> 
> And being a nurses daughter, you pick up and get curious about a lot of things. Trust me.

Eda woke up that night hungrier than she’d been in a long time. She had fallen asleep before she could eat her bread. Which was gone. King must have eaten it. Speaking of food, She could smell it wafting up from the kitchen. That must have been what woke her up. 

She limped into the kitchen and saw King and Luz making dinner. King’s sensitive little ears heard her easily and he quickly turned around and saw her. His eyes lit up in excitement before quickly filling with concern. He eyed her chest and leg, examining her with squinted eyes before speaking.

“Eda, are you bleeding?” He asked.

Luz turned around at the mention of her mentor. 

When she saw the witch, her eyes widened in concern. Luz stared at Eda’s chest. It was covered in blood. Blood that hadn’t been there earlier.

Eda looked down to see that blood had seeped through the bandages as she slept, now staining her shirt. She let out another internal “Fuck!” She had liked this shirt. Also Luz was looking at her with concern and barely concealed fear. That look Luz was giving her might be worse than her favorite shirt being ruined.

“Eda, why don’t you sit down.” Luz said calmly, moving to help Eda into a chair.

“I can sit down on my own! I’m not an invalid.” She snapped. Shaking Luz off and sitting down.

“I know, just-just let me help you, you’re hurt.” Luz said gently, though her voice was somewhat strained and her face held annoyance.

“You don’t have to help me kid. It’s not your job. Just finish what you’re doing. I’ll be fine.” Eda said the last part softly, eyes looking down.

Luz’s eyes immediately widened in surprise before softening considerably.

“I know I don’t have to help,” She said, “but I want to.”

Eda just continued to stare at the floor, but nodded her head. She didn’t understand. Why did this kid want to help her? Even her own sister had given up on her years ago.

“King why don’t you finish up dinner while I help Eda clean up?” Luz said.

“Sure.” He said.

“Do you think you can make it to the bathroom on your own?” Luz asked.

Eda nodded. She tried to stand up, only to fall back into her seat. This was possibly one of the most embarrassing things ever. Her protege shouldn’t have to do this. She shouldn’t need help. Luz just sighed gently before helping Eda stand up. Her face, Eda noticed, held none of the annoyance it had just a few moments ago. She didn’t quite recognize the look, but she really hoped it wasn’t pity. She was ready to give up now. Her pride was crushed. 

Luz continued to help Eda to the bathroom. They stumbled a couple of times, and for the first few times they did Eda would mumble an apology. It was kind of heartbreaking, seeing such a strong, confident woman look so meek and unsure of herself. Even sadder was when Eda stopped mumbling apologies and started to sigh and look more disappointed with herself every time.  
——————————————————————————  
Once in the bathroom Luz helped Eda sit down. 

“Do you need any help getting you shirt off?”

Eda looked up for a moment before looking back down and nodding. Her quietness was becoming more and more concerning. Nonetheless, Luz helped her get her shirt off and unwrapped the bloody bandages. Blood stuck to the bandages, and seeped out of the wounds.

Luz grabbed a cloth and began gently dabbing the blood off. Occasionally, Eda would hiss in pain and Luz would give her an apologetic look before continuing. When the blood was gone, Luz grabbed the alcohol and wet another cloth.

“This will probably sting. A lot.” She warned.

Eda stayed quiet.

She hissed and bit her lip to keep from screaming or crying out. The pain was blinding. White hot, like a brand. It mad her dizzy and she had to grab onto the wall and lean on Luz just to keep from passing out.

Luz realized Eda was dizzy and grabbed Eda’s shoulder and held her gently. She didn’t want her mentor to pass out and hit her head. A concussion was one thing she wasn’t entirely sure she could deal with. Eda was clearly embarrassed once it passed and the urge to say something was over whelming.

“Hey, it’s ok to need help. It’s ok to rely on your friends. We want to help you Eda, we care about you. I care about you.” Luz said as she gently rubbed Eda’s arm in what she hoped was a comforting manner.

“I-thanks.” Eda said, still looking down.

Luz continued to clean and bandage Eda’s chest leaving only to get a fresh shirt for Eda. 

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” Luz asked gently.

“I- my leg.” She said.

“Let me see.”

So Eda pulled up her loose sleep pants so Luz could see. It was worse than Eda thought. Blood soaked the bandages so completely that it had begun to drip down her leg.

Luz sucked in a breath before steeling herself and beginning to remove the bandage. 

Eda got so dizzy she almost fell as soon as the kid started unwrapping. An embarrassing whimper fell from her lips as she gripped Luz’s shirt tightly.

“Eda, do you want me to set you in the floor and lean you against the wall? I really need to get these off.” She said.

Eda nodded through clenched teeth.

Luz nodded too and carefully slid Eda into the floor. She continued to unwrap the bandages as slowly and carefully as she could. She finally finished and cleaned the wound. Once the blood was mostly gone, Luz realized she still needed to sterilize the wound.

“E-Eda?” 

“Mhm?”

“I still need to use the alcohol.” Luz told her.

“Ok-wait what?!” 

“Eda, I need to do it, but it will probably hurt a lot.” Luz said. “I don’t want this to get infected.”

Eda whined again.

“Ju-just do it.” She said.

So Luz did. Eda let out a scream of pain when the alcohol hit her wound. It was quite deep. Were she human she would have needed stitches, but witches heal faster than humans. She was amazed the kid was so calm about this.

“Sorry Eda.” Luz said apologetically.

“It-it’s fi-ine.” Eda said through heavy breaths. 

Luz bandaged the wounds and helped Eda back to the living room. She needed to keep an eye on Eda. Luz laid her on the couch and grabbed her some dinner. She missed the whine Eda let out when she left.

“Here, you must be starving.” She said.

“You have no idea.” Eda said, leaning against Luz as she ate.

She finished quickly. Luz took her plate into the kitchen and came back. The two of them just sat and talked for a while about nothing. Soon enough though, Eda let out a big yawn and Luz just smiled.

“Alright, why don’t you just go to sleep, hm?” 

Eda nodded, eyes already closing. Before they could though, she grabbed Luz’s arm and dragged her down. 

“Eda?!” 

“I just wanna cuddle right now.” She said, sleep was quickly taking hold of her.

Luz smiled and repositioned them. Eda fell asleep and for the first time in a long time, she felt at least kind of safe.


	3. Chapter 3

When Eda awoke she was alone. She rubbed her eyes and got up with some difficulty. As she stumbled into the kitchen she felt an odd sensation in her arm. She pulled up her sleeve to reveal feathers.

“Fuck.”

“Eda? Is everything alright?” A voice asked from behind her.

It was Luz. Quickly, Eda pulled down her sleeve and turned to face her apprentice.

“I- uh-”

“Oh Eda, we should probably change the bandages.” Luz said, as though she suddenly remembered.

“Ye-yeah.” She said, relieved she didn’t have to answer the earlier question.

“Come on.” Luz said, gently tugging on her arm. 

The tug though brushed the feathers under her sleeves and she hissed in surprise. Luz noticed this and turned around but Eda just smiled at her. They arrived in the bathroom and Eda started to panic.

“Ok Eda, can you take off your shirt?” 

“Uh-why don't we do this later?” She said.

“Why? Let’s just get it over with so you can get something to eat.” Luz said. “Here, let me just- oh”

Eda looked down ashamedly. Luz stared at the feathers for a moment before looking at Eda. Gently, she placed a hand on Eda’s shoulder. 

“Hey it’s fine. We’ll finish this up then you can go take your elixir. Ok?” 

“I-yeah, ok.” 

So Luz cleaned and replaced the bandages on Eda’s chest and back.

“Do you need any help getting upstairs?”

“No I-” Eda looked at the look Luz was giving her. “No, but I might need help getting the elixir down. Could you...” She said, looking away shyly.

Luz smiled, “Of course I can help.”

“Thanks.”

Eda and Luz went upstairs and into Eda’s room. Eda showed Luz where she usually kept it, it wasn’t too high up but it was certainly heavy. 

“Here you go.”

“Thanks Luz.”

Luz just smiled. As she looked around Eda’s room she noticed that Ed had yet to get rid of the pillow that she had torn when she turned. Then she noticed something else. The claw marks were very similar to the ones on Eda’s chest.

“Eda, do you think you could tell me where you were the other day.”

“I-” 

“And don’t try to say you were ‘taking care of business’ or that it’s none of my business.”

Eda deflated. Looking at the floor, she sighed.

“Can we get something to eat first?” She asked. Eda wanted to prolong this for as long as possible.

“Sure, but as soon as we’re down there you’re telling me. Got it?” Luz said seriously.

“Yeah.”

So Luz and Eda went back downstairs. The whole way down Luz hovered close to Eda, ready to catch her if she fell again. Eda noticed but said nothing.

“Okay, what do you want?” Luz asked gently.

“Uh, I don’t care.” 

“Mkay. So, start talking.” Luz said.

Eda sighed.

“Well, the other day I, well, I ran out of my elixir.” 

Luz nodded. She figured as much. The box had been nearly full, so clearly brand new.

“So, the market was closed for some dumb holiday and I couldn’t get more until the next day. I turn at night so I had do something so I wouldn’t destroy the house or hurt you or King.” She said.

Luz nodded, done with the sandwich she had been making. She went over and handed it to Eda before sitting next to her. Eda left the sandwich where it was.

“So I did what I usually do; I went to this cave a few miles away. I usually go there when I need to change so I really wasn’t worried. I-I remember turning and-and then nothing.”

Luz nodded.

“I woke up the next day and felt the pain. Then I saw the body of some giant demon a few feet away. It was very dead. I had to get home though, so I got up and got back. After that I just cleaned up and went to the market to get my elixir. Then I came home and changed my clothes. I was on my way down to get something to eat before I fell down the stairs.” Eda finished.

“Oh. Wow. So you went through all that, because you didn’t set the date on your calendar?” Said Luz incredulously.

Eda glared at her.

“Ok, sorry. Why don’t we get your calendar and mark out dates for when you’re gonna run out so this doesn’t happen again? Hm?”

“I-Yeah.”

So Luz and Eda marked out the points in the calendar. A few hours later, King came out of the bathroom with a questioning look on his face.

“So, does someone want to explain why there are feathers on the bathroom?”

**Author's Note:**

> So I could make this into a series. Anyone who wants to see this happen plz comment with any ideas. The only one I have so far is that maybe the spikes had poison and it takes a day or so for it to take effect.
> 
> Plz if you want a series comment with ideas.


End file.
